


Roommates don't mean to get on your nerves

by Apricot_Writes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Autistic Ina Leifsdottir, Autistic author writing autistic characters, Disability, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, MFE pilots, Overstimulation, Sensory Overload, Slice of Life, sensory issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29769711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apricot_Writes/pseuds/Apricot_Writes
Summary: Ina Leifsdottir will bite her tongue about everthing her roommates  do until it all bubbles over.TW: description of sensory overload. (not too in depth, but it's there)
Relationships: James Griffin & Ryan Kinkade & Ina Leifsdottir & Nadia Rizavi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Roommates don't mean to get on your nerves

**Author's Note:**

> Ina is definitely my favourite side character. And nobody can convince me she isn't autistic because she is.

Ina Leifsdottir does not like noise. She does not like the sounds of overlapping conversations. Nor the sound of scraping forks against dinner plates. The buzzing of electricity is one of her least favourites, but it isn't rock bottom. No, rock bottom is the current sound of Nadia's phone conversation. 

The grainy audio directly underneath Ina’s bunk bed, and Nadia's loud and sudden additions to the subject from the small ‘getting ready’ area a few feet away make Ina’s skin crawl. Nadia had never remembered to charge her phone until right before it died, so the damned noise-maker needs to be plugged in. And Nadia needs to get her makeup done for a night off of Garrison property. So that left the viable option of ‘speaker phone and shouting’.

Ina could scream. But that would only add to the noise, and that is the last thing she wants.

So she settles for a pair of headphones and holding her breath.

•••

James is an old friend, one who accompanied her through many years of schooling at the Garrison. They are rather close and know what gets on each other's nerves. Or so at least Ina thought. James Griffin, as tight strung as he was, had never followed a schedule in his life. If he needs to complete a task, he does it right then and there. 

Need a shower? Right now.

Hungry? Eat right now.

Doing something else at the moment? Well then do it when you're finished.

Ina had thought she was very, as others would say ‘passive aggressive’ (or so that's what she thought she was doing) when she left her day schedule open on the shared table in the back of their dorm. She purposely left it on her routines page for everyone to see. Then, they would surely make note of everything. Right?

But Ina found herself double checking the times in her book.

8:45-9:05 - Shower and skincare

Here it is, 8:49, and James is currently in the shower.

Ina could scream.

•••

Ryan is a morning person. He is a bright person, a ‘lights on’ kind of person. He is a type of ‘always on’ kind of person, usually doing something stimulating during all hours of the day.

Very very different from Ina.

Ina is a dark kind of person. A gentle activity kind of person, one who loves a good book, a candle, and a cup of tea - with the lights off, of course.

So when Ryan flicks on every single light and lamp he passes, Ina can find herself following him and turning them all off after him. Even when he only spends a few seconds in their dorm, the light goes on when he comes in and doesn't get turned off when he goes out.

The fluorescent Garrison lights are, to Ina, buzzing rays of death and destruction. She can hear the electricity coursing through them, and can't help but close her eyes when they turn on. It's not nearly enough to blind her, but Ina just finds it much more preferable to leave them off in lieu of her gentle LED fairy lights.

All she has to do is convince Ryan that, too.

•••

Although her fellow MFE pilots can fray her nerves, she is usually able to handle it from one person to the other. But this Friday evening, all the pent up annoyance and overstimulation from the day boils over.

Nadia is yelling across the room to Ryan, who just turned on his lamp directly across from Ina's bed, where the blonde is currently filing her nails as per her hygiene routine. Ryan, who Ina never pictured as a loud person and in reality is probably not being that loud in this moment, is yelling back to her in a way that grinds Ina’s eardrums.

Ina is trying to remain calm when James walks in the room and (loudly) asks if everyone wants to watch a movie.

“Sure!”

“Yeah alright.”

James looks up at her.

“Ina c’mon. It's good team bonding.”

Ina doesn't trust that her voice will work so she doesn't even try. She shakes her head; gripping the nail file and rubbing its coarse texture in an attempt to calm herself. It doesn't work, the file is just plain rough on her skin and makes every sense tingle even more.

“Oh Ina, come on.” Nadia steps onto the bottom rung of her bunk-bed ladder. “We’ll put something good on. Let's go.”

Ina just shakes her head again.

Then she almost screams. Maybe she did, because the second Nadia grabs her arm she recoils as if she's touched something hot. Ina backs up as much as she can and grabs a pillow, hugging it to her chest. The skin to skin touch felt like a hundred thousand knives stabbing themselves into every part of her body.

“Woah, woah, are you ok? Did I hurt you?” Nadia looks back to her other teammates, stepping off the ladder. “I swear I didn't try to do anything.”

Every pent up emotion and sensation that Ina had masked and pushed down today comes flowing out. The dam is broken and all the water is rushing out. She buries her face in the soft cotton pillowcase and tries to cry. She can't. Ina could never really cry.

The conversation of her teammates sounds distant even though she knows James currently has his hands on her mattress, peering over the rail at her.

“I mean I know she's autistic but like.. doesn't that just mean she doesn't get social stuff?”

“I knew there was a sensory aspect to it but she just never showed it.”

“Yeah I just assumed she didn't have that problem.”

“I didn’t even know about that.”

The room is silent. It's nice, Ina thinks. Nadia breaks it.

“I feel really bad for not understanding this.”

Nobody else says anything.

It's not long until Ina is able to force herself to talk.

“Turn off the lights.” She mumbles it, and doesn't think anyone else would hear her or understand but they do. The overhead lights flick off, and then the bathroom light and then Ryan's lamp. She lifts her face from the pillow, cheeks red with embarrassment from having a shutdown in front of her team.

“Do you need anything?” James asks.

“I- I need some time to calm down.” Ina's voice cracks.

•••

The group sat in pairs of two on the lower bunk beds, cloaked nearly entirely in darkness save for Ina’s fairy lights coming from her top bunk.

“What do you need us to do differently.” James asked, voice soft and quiet. Ina likes it.

“Being autistic doesn't just mean I am good at noticing things, or bad at conversation.” She inhales, lungs filling deep with needed oxygen. “I am sensitive- more sensitive than most people, to the world around me. Things that other people find ok are not ok to me.”

Ina was glad it was dark, nobody could see her face growing redder and redder felt quite like a preschooler talking about things she doesn't like. But she goes on.

“The world is very bright and loud and busy to me. Noise bothers me. Overhead lights bother me.”

There is a pause in her explanation. She doesn't know what to say next, where to go from there.

“So how about we move your little lights all over the room? We'll use them instead of the regular lights.” Ryan is sitting beside her, speaking in a low tone that Ina is grateful for.

She nods quickly.

“And we can take noisy things out of the room? I can step out into the hall to take phone calls if you’d like me to.” Nadia's voice is sweet and gentle. Maybe even sickly sweet. Ina nods, a tad slower this time as she realizes that everyone is using their ‘special kid’ voice. Talking to her like she is a baby who can't talk for herself. But, there could be a slight possibility that this is a good thing right now as she doesn't know if she could have articulated those points at the moment.

“You also have a routine, right?” It appears to be James’ turn to speak now. “I remember that from when we were students. Would you like to put up your schedule where everyone can see it? Then we won't.. move you off track.”

James is using full on baby talk at this point. Ina lets go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

“You don't need to talk to me like that. Like a baby. I just need a minute to get my thoughts together.” Ina forgot to add any tone to her voice. She doesn't have the energy, so who cares if she sounds rude.

There is a mumbled apology throughout the group.

“But it's ok, I guess everyone was trying to help. I really would appreciate all of those things.” She fidgets with the hem of her t-shirt. “There are so many other- things, about autism, that I don't think I could put into words. I don't like to be touched on, um, like, skin-to-skin, but I like it through clothing. Hm, I would like a minute to process what is being said to me. Sometimes you’ll say something and immediately try to fill in what I’m thinking. Just give me a second to hear what you said.”

The room is silent once again.

“I don't even know what I need from you all.” Ina takes a deep breath and stares at the floor. “I don't think it's right for me to ask all of you to change so much about your regular lives. You all live here too. Everything shouldn't be tailored just to me.”

“But you have, like, a..”

“A disability. It's not a bad word, you can say it. It's a disability I should be able to cope with at a  _ military academy _ . I shouldn't have made the cut if I cannot even function in a dorm. That's one of-”

James cuts her off. 

“You are supposed to be able to cope during drills, flight patterns, and training. And you do that perfectly. You deserve a quiet and stress free place to recharge.”

Nadia and Ryan hum their agreement.

“How about we make this about all of us. Like, what we would all like to change in our living situation. I can go first.” Nadia shifted herself to sit upright. “My sister calls me late on Fridays. Can we switch our take-out runs to be a bit earlier in the day?”

The group nods.

“And I know everyone isn't bothered by it,” Ryan starts, “But I find dishes really gross. Can everyone take out their snack plates as soon as they're done with them?”

Everyone shot back and forth with things they want, things they've bit their tongues on, and call-outs for long showers and leaving laundry on the floor. It was nice, and Ina felt comfortable revealing bit by bit more things that she wanted. And, things she needed changed. 

“I don't get sarcasm.”

“I don't always want to talk.”

“I can’t sleep without my weighted blanket so if  _ Ryan  _ would please stop stealing it..”

And, through the whole ordeal, it is just nice to be accepted. Ina is grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments really mean a lot to me. :)


End file.
